media-38619.jpeg UPL 38619 Capt. James E. Buckley was KIA 11 January 1944 while flying his ninth combat mission with the 370th Fighter Squadron. From Philadelphia, PA, Capt. Buckley joined the 359th Fighter Group in April 1943. His name is inscribed on the Wall of Memory at the Cambridge American Cemetery.

11 January 1944: Twenty aircraft of the Squadron flew on escort with bombers attacking industrial targets in northern and western Germany. Seventeen of the planes returned safely. Two crashed near airdromes in Wales and England. One disappeared into the North Sea area just off the coast of England.

Capt. James Edwin Buckley, of Troy, NY, veteran leader of “A” Flight of the Squadron, was last seen by members of his flight in a “steep dive” at approximately 15,000 feet above the North Sea several miles from the coast. 1st Lt. C.W. Cunningham, Element Leader in “A” Flight, reported that he had attempted to follow Capt. Buckley in the dive, but said that his aircraft was “entering compressibility.” The aircraft was not seen to strike the water, but failed to return.

Capt. Buckley, known affectionately by the entire flying and enlisted personnel of the 370th Fighter Squadron as “Capt. Buck,” had been a leader in squadron training, organization, and operations since shortly after its activation at Westover Field, Mass, in January, 1943. He was 25 and the son of Mr. and Mr. Edward J. Buckley, 12 Griswold Avenue, Troy, NY. A graduate of the United States Military at West Point, Capt. Buckley had graduated from the Catholic Central High School and attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, both at Troy. Shortly after coming with the 370th Fighter Squadron, he was made a flight leader and was serving in that capacity on his final mission. He had been promoted to first lieutenant on January 27, 1943, then elevated to the rank of captain August 29, 1943.
359th Fighter Group collection

Photo courtesy Jack H. Bateman.
Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association.
Posted by Janet Fogg, 359th Fighter Group Historian.